LEC TURE
ON THE
DUTIES AND RELATIONS
OF
PARENTS, TEACHERS AND PUPILS,
AS
CONNECTED WITH EDUCATION.
BY CHARLES DAVIES,
DELIVERED AT THE FIRIST SESSION OF THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTES
HELD UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION,
AT THE NORMAL SCHOOL AT YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN,
1852.
DETROIT:
FREE PRESS BOOK AND JOB OFFICE PRINT.
1852.................
1852.
-. J 
PUBLISHED BY DIRECTION
THE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. 
-3 w
j v                I
I, /, I 
LECTURE.
The great problem of the present age is the
education of the young.
The diffusion of knowledge among menthe analysis of the rights of man, as an intelligent, social and accountable being-a careful
examination of the laws of civil society and of
the social relations, have awakened humanity
from the slumber of ages, and it now appears
on the stage of human action, armed with the
justice of its own claims and bold in the assertion of its divine origin.
Before these mighty powers of the 19th
century thrones have crumbled-old institutions have disappeared, and now the dawn of a
brighter day excites the hopes and gladdens
the heart of philanthropy. Although the
struggle may be long, and the progress of
truth, justice and intelligence occasionally impeded, they must and will ultimately triumph. 
4
It is ordained of Providence that great changes
in the condition of the world be gradual, and
that they be brought about by appropriate
means. Such means appear to be in a course
of rapid development.
The Press scatters its burning sheets throughout the entire region of civilization. Commerce spreads her sails on every ocean, and in
every commercial metropolis the flags of all
nations float together in the same breeze. The
earth has been girded with iron bands, over
which the chariots of trade pass with dizzying
velocity. Steam has also added its gigantic
power, and sets space and the elements at defiance. It sweeps the ocean with a giant's
stride, and has established new connections
and sympathies in the family of nations. So
close are those connections, and so intimate are
those sympathies, that not a gun is fired on thle
banks of the Danube whose reverberation is
not heard along our whole Atlantic coast and
through the entire valley of the Mississippi.
In this age of rapid development and impetuous discovery, time has been annihilated.
The sun himself has been outstripped in his
daily circuit, by thought, which travels with 
5
its own wonted rapidity along wires constructed by the hand of man. The heavens
have also been explored by new and powerful
instruments-new planets have been added to
our system, and new systems have also been
discovered lying far in the infinitude of space.
The present generation has been permitted
to witness, and in some degree to participate
in the development of these great events
events which are yet to exert an unmeasured
influence on the family of man.
Apart from that general condition of the
world which distinguishes the age in which we
live from any that has been recorded in the
volume of history, is there anything peculiar
in the condition of our own country which calls
for special efforts in the training and education
of the young.
From a moral summit higher than the
Andes, we have unfurled the banner of universal freedom and beckoned to the oppressed
of the earth to come here and repose under its
ample folds. The protection of that banner is
committed to the virtue, the intelligence and
the patriotism of this people. From the rocky
shores and ice-bound coast of Nova Scotia to 
6
the sunny climes of the Gulf of Mexico-from
the broad Atlantic to the great inland seasand from the Father of Waters to the distant
shores of California and Oregon, one government and one flag give repose and happiness
to a people speaking a common language-the
government is one of their own choice-the
flag, the emblem of freedom, and the language
that of Shakspeare and Milton-our own loved
English.
Such is the inheritance of the present generation-how great its blessings-how great,
also, its responsibilities.  How are these institutions which promise so much for posterityinstitutions founded by the virtue and cemented by the blood of our fathers-to be preserved-enlarged-made permanent? They
are founded on the intelligence and virtue of
the people, and hence can only be maintained
by a system of public instruction reaching all
who share in the government-holding up to
the mind the light of intelligence, and to the
heart the standard of duty. This, then, brings
us to the question of education-and what is t?
ducation is that system of training which
develops in their right direction and in their 
7
properproportions, our physical, intellectual and
moral natures.
By the term physical, we mean all that relates to the body-to its health, form and proper development. In the term intellectual,
we include all the faculties of the mind which
enable us to acquire ideas-to remember them
-to compare them with each other, and to
develop new ones from the relations existing
between those already known. In this class
are the faculties of apprehension, memory,
judgment, and the reasoning powers. By the
moral nature, we mean the whole class of the
affections-the emotions of joy and sorrow-of
pleasure and pain-of lovye and hatred-of
stoical indifference and tender sympathy-and
of faith, which springs from the heart and
guides the life.
With these three elements of our common
nature, the teacher has to deal continually.
He has to watch over the physical-to guard
the health-to see that the body is kept constantly in the right position-that all its parts
are perfectly developed-that exercise is duly
mixed with intellectual labor, and that the
body be not over4-tasked. 
8
Over the mind he must be ever watchful.
It is a tender plant, and he must nurture it
with maternal care.
The moral nature of his pupils will be, with
the teacher, a subject of earnest and constant
solicitude. Their young affections will need
his warmest sympathies for their growth and
development.
With the general impressions resulting from
this simple analysis, let us suppose a teacher
to enter the school-room for the first time.
What is the first step to be taken? What are
the first things to be done q  To establish his
authority over his school-to ensure the obedience of his scholars-to win their confidence
-to gain their respect, and to call into exercise their warmest affections. And how are
these results to be attained?
1st. By a system of inflexible justice-by
the establishment of general rules applicable
equally to all-and to which all are equally
required to yield the same obedience. All the
scholars of a school stand, in regard to their
teacher, on the same level. Each has an
equal claim to his instructions-his encouraging words-his forbearance-and, also, to the 
9
steadiness and firmness of his discipline. To
them all, he should feel himself equally allied.
He is the officer appointed by the public authority to watch over and rear up the children
of the republic. He holds an official stationis charged with responsible duties, and the individual should be merged in the public officer. He should ever hold the scales of justice
with a bandage over his eyes. He should be
certain that individual preferences exert no
influence; and yet, the feeling should ever be
present both in his mind and heart, that justice to the young must always be tempered
with kindness.
2d. The teacher must always be consistent
with himself. Uniformity, in system and conduct, is indispensable to the exercise of control and influence over others. A dignified,
calm and courteous manner, with words appropriately and kindly spoken, will awaken a
response in the young heart, of respect, love
and obedience. Familiarity, which sinks the
teacher in the companion, will render necessary at a subsequent period, the exercise of a
sterner authority- and this will break that
uniformity of manner and conduct which is
B 
10
one of the main anchors of control over the
minds of the young. That manner, which, at
the same time, cultivates the affections and
ensures the respect of the pupils-which establishes a current of warm sympathy and a
cheerful and ready obedience founded on love
and a principle of duty, should be the aim and
study of every teacher. 
It is a great mistake, however, to suppose
that it is desirable to appeal to the affections
only, as a means of government. Obedience
is a proper submission to rightful authority.
Such submission should be taught and insisted
on, both in the family and in the school room,
and the teacher will fail in one of his most
important duties, if he do not inculcate the
principle, that the relations of himself and pupils demand the exercise of a rightful authority on his part, and a cheerful obedience on
theirs, as a duty equally obligatory on both.
To preserve that consistency with oneself,
necessary to the establishment and maintenance of authority, with the least possible discipline, requires watchfulness and self-control.
Great care must be observed that every order
given to a pupil, be punctually and cheerfully 
11
obeyed. If James receives a command which
is distasteful to him, in a tone leaving any
doubt on his mind in regard to the unalterable
purpose of his teacher, he will pause and hesitate, and finally ask if certain things more
pressing ought not to have precedence? At
first, these remonstrances should be answered
by the firm and kind reply, James, did you
not understand me  or, James, it is a rule of
this school that every order be promptly and
cheerfully obeyed, without objection or delay.
If James still persists, he must be punished
until he will go silently and immediately to
the performance of the duty assigned him.
Establish the principle, at any cost of needful discipline, that every order which you
give must be obeyed without murmur and
without objection. Be careful, then, never to
give an order either trifling or unjust in its
nature, or beyond the scope of your legitimate
authority. This done, see that all your orders
are promptly and silently obeyed. You will
thus acquire the entire and perfect control of
your school. 
Passion and violence will ever injure the
authority of a teacher. They discover a weak 
12
ness and a want of self-control which the child
is quick to discern, and they arouse in his own
breast a feeling of opposition and a sense of
injury. There is a firm and gentle tone, and
a calm and dignified manner, which impel to
obedience, and these will often prevail when
correction, even with the rod, fails of its effect.
Too much talking about the necessity of
obedience, and especially threatening punishment, will soon loose their effect on the mind
of the pupil, and will ever weaken the authority of a teacher. Perhaps there is no one
cause which operates so certainly to produce
this result as a too great willingness on the
part of a teacher to explain his motives-and
a too earnest desire to be rightly understood
by those whom he may have to correct-and
a too sensitive fear lest his scholars should feel
that he has been unjust or even unnecessarily
severe.  All this, teachers, will tend to subvert
the order of your schools-to place your
pupils in the attitude of critics and judges, and
yourselves in the humiliating position of accounting to them for your conduct. Silence
exerts a powerful influence over the minds of
the young, and is a great aid and support of 
13
authority.  Be  careful, therefore, never, by
raising the curtain, to disclose to your pupils
what you think and feel in regard to yourself.
Hold free and open intercourse with them on
all matters of instruction-lay open to them
every subject of knowledge to which you ask
their attention-fathom their hearts and direct
their sympathies in the channels best calculated to expand and develop them-but do
nothing, either by word or act, which shall justify them in analyzing your conduct, scanning
your motives or placing themselves in the
judgment seat to pronounce upon your doings.
Above all things, never admit into your hearts,
for a single moment, the idea that you and
your pupils stand in the position of antagonism.  Never make yourselves a party in opposition to them. It is your duty to govern and
teach-theirs to obey and learn. You must
put on patience as a garment and wear it
always.
We come next, teachers, to the methods of
imparting instruction.
It is a trite remark, and yet must ever be
borne in mind, that it is the primary object of
education so to train the mind and form the 
14
moral character, that when the pupil leaves
the Academy or College Hall, he may go forth
prepared to discharge those duties, and fulfil
those destinies, which an all-wise Providence
has appointed to us here. Hence, teachers, it
should be your object to train the mind to
self-action-to strengthen and develop all its
faculties-to accustom it, even in its very first
efforts, to original combinations-and to give
it a foundation and centering of its own.
Masses of knowledge, like masses of matter,
are capable of being separated into very minute portions or elements. These should be
presented to the mind separately, and in their
proper order.  Teach one thing at a timeteach that thing thoroughly-and as far as possible, teach all its connections with other things!
There is as much skill necessary to teach
a child the alphabet and the first combination of sounds, as is required to instruct him
in the higher branches of Geometry. Indeed,
when the mind is weak and feeble-unaccustomed to action, credulous, and easily led,
more care is necessary in giving it a proper
direction than is required, afterwards, to keep
it in the right path. 
15
In all your teachings, be careful to be distinct and definite.  Be sure that every question which you put has a -distinct and appropriate answer-and then see that that answer
is given, and accept of no other. When you
put a question, however unimportant, give the
pupil full time to reflect upon it before he answers-and do not allow him to answer at a
venture, or before he has fully considered the
nature and scope of the question.
You would not, after having put in motion
a delicate and complicated piece of machinery, suddenly to arrest that motion. Were you
to do so, you would derange its action and
perhaps break or destroy some of its essential
parts.  Would you, then, after exciting the
mental energies to action-after waking up,
as it were, the young mind, suddenly to arrest
it in its trains of thought, at the moment it
was putting forth its powers? The young are
naturally distrustful of themselves, and the
greatest care should be taken not to thwart or
discourage them in their first mental efforts.
When you put a question to a pupil, he
must first apprehend the nature of that question; he must then consider the nature of the 
16
answer, after which he must select from his
own limited vocabulary the best words in
which to express that answer.  Thus, you see,
there are several mental operations before he
is ready to respond. You cannot be too particular in the matter of not interfering, by a
series of rapid questions, with the mental operations of your pupils. Indeed, I may say,
that to abstain from doing so, lies at the foundation of all good teaching.  Let every question which you put elicit one distinct idea or
thought, and see that the answer brings out
that thought, fully and distinctly. But let it
come out in its own way-let the mind of the
pupil conceive and frame the answer.
If you wish to guide or direct the mind into a particular channel, do it by a series of
gentle and dependent inductions. Follow the
analogy of nature.   See how  the mother
teaches the child to walk. She first partially
supports it, until it can stand alone, then she
places one foot before the other, until nature,
co-operating with her efforts, brings about the
desired result. Similarly with our intellectual efforts. The eye of the teacher must be
quick to discern the strength of mind and 
17
aptness of his scholar. He must not tax his
mind too heavily- he must not leave it to itself; but by tasks adapted to its capacity,
must tempt it from effort to effort, as the
young eagle is taught to fly from branch to
branch, before it is able to soar aloft and gaze
upon the sun.
After the mind of the pupil has been impressed with a sufficient number of distinct
elementary ideas, the next step in his intellectual development is to combine those ideas:
that is, to put them together in such a manner as to deduce new ones, having a legitimate and logicalconnection with those already
known.
For example, after having learned the
sounds of the letters of the alphabet, the child
must next be taught to combine those sounds,
forming words; and by combining these words
in a certain order we form a rich and fruitfiul
language, which becomes the vehicle of our
thoughts and feelings. Thus, by the simple
process of combination, wonderful results are
obtained. Twenty-six simple characters, each'
representing one or more distinct sounds or
modulations of the human voice, are put to
C 
18
gether in sets, called words; and these words
may be so arranged as to express every
thought of the mind and every feeling of the
heart. I give this merely as an illustration of
the results which may be deduced by the combination of simple elements.
The habit of classification and association
will both improve the memory and strengthen
the  power  of analysis.  It sharpens  and
brightens the mind-gives it a clear and penetrating power and cultivates the faculties of
comparison  and judgment.  The  reasoning
faculty, which evolves new truths from the
relations that exist between known preminses,
cannot be fuilly developed without the aid of
these preliminary steps. This is the great
governing faculty of the mind. It is-to the
intellect what mathematics is to general science.
In all your teachings, you should keep the
separate faculties of the mind constantly in
view. You will find them to exist in different intensity in the several pupils of the same
school.  With  some, it will be difficult to
make the first step. You will often have to
labor much to impress a single distinct idea 
19
to give a single impression that shall leave its
trace upon the mind. Others will apprehend
with readiness, but remember with difficultywhile others, still differently constituted, will
not only apprehend quickly but remember
with surprising tenacity, and yet be unable either to compare or combine their ideas.
Such will be regarded as matter-of-fact men.
They possess no original powers-will travel
the old and known road-will invent nothing
and add little to the common stock of human
knowledge.
Others, by a too rapid association, will condine and compare with too much facility.
Their minds fly from object to object with
such celerity of motion and such indistinctness
of mental vision, that nothing is clearly understood. They have not the patience to
think deeply and accurately.  Their minds,
long indulged in the vagrant habit of touching things only on the surface, become impatient of restraint and averse to labor.  They
see, indeed, but it is "through a glass darkly;"
and their perceptions, are like the visions ofi
a dream, associated in wild and fanciful combinations. 
20
In the cultivation and development of these
intellectual faculties, it should be your object,
teachers, to bring them forward in their just
proportions. Some, it is true, may be more
important than others, but each and all are
necessary to form a perfect whole, as each
color of the rainbow is required to make up
the perfect light of day. They are, indeed,
like the finished columns of a temple; they at
once support and adorn the mental edifice.
But, teachers, while you are especially anxious to develop those powers which give to the
mind its strength and vigor, you must not
neglect the cultivation of the secondary faculties which constitute its grace and ornament.
The love of the beautiful, either in nature
or art, is one of those sympathies implanted in
the soul for wise and beneficent purposes, and
should be carefully and assiduously cultivated.
In your daily readings, in the school-room, you
will have many opportunities of awakening in
the minds of your pupils a taste for the beauties of fine writing. You may, with great advantage, point out to them the strikingpassages of their lessons —dwell on the poetic
associations which excited the imaginations 
21
of their authors, and thus awaken in their
minds a warmer and more genial spirit than is
elicited by efforts merely intellectual.
You should also ever be ready to open the
minds of your pupils to a nice perception of the
beauties of nature.
Whoever walked forth at "early dawn or
dewy eve" without feeling the wisdom and
beneficence of that Being who clothes the
fields in verdure and has filled the heavens
with the light of his countenance? Who ever
gazed on the mountain, or lifted his eyes to the
starry heavens without a deep impression of
the majesty of God? Who ever surveyed the
verdant meadow-with its flocks cropping the
grass-or looked upon the placid lake, or the
smiling fields waving with the ripened harvest, without a grateful emotion to the kind
Providence who has spread so much beauty
around us?
Opportunities may occur, in the discharge
of your duties as teachers, to plant in the virgin soil of the young mind the seeds of such
delightful impressions. Sow them, broad-cast'
whenever and wherever you can. Some may
fall among thorns-some by the way-side 
22
but much will fall upon good soil and bring
forth fruit abundantly.
But, teachers, your responsibilities by no
means terminate in the physical and intellectual instruction which you may impart. You
are, also, the moral teachers of youth. All
their affections are committed to your care.
If you do not preside at the birth, you do at
the baptism of their moral nature - and that
is the basis of all subsequent religious impression and belief The affections are to the intellect what the forge is to the metal-they
soften and shape it, and give to it those attractive forms which augment its power and
heighten its beauty.
The principle which lies at the foundation
of this class of feelings, is an obedientfaithby which I mean that confidence in another
which impels to obedience in his authority
alone. It is this feeling of faith which prompts
the obedient child to feel that the commands
of his parents are right, and that he ought to
obey them because of the authority from which
they emanate.  It is this feeling which imparts to the good boy at school that confiding
trust in his teacher which will not permit him 
23
to question his authority, or scan his motives
-but which produces a prompt and ready
obedience. In all your teaching, strive to cultivate this feeling. The spirit which is imbued with it, will conduct' its possessor along
thb road of obedience and order-will make
him orderly at school-obedient at home-a
citizen observing the laws-and on to such a
spirit is easily engrafted that religious faith
which reaches beyond the transitory things of
this life and lays hold on the rich promises of
that which is to come.
There is nothing which you should labor
more earnestly to discourage and repress than
a captious spirit of doubting. Hold no terms
with the disposition to reject everything not
proved by rigorouis demonstration.   It is, I
know, supposed by some, to be a certain indication of genius to believe nothing. Hence,
some have gone so far as to doubt even of
their own existence. Such can have no well
founded confidence in God or man.  They
must pass through life in a state of alienation
from their fellow beings-denying the existence of virtue as an active principle- exploring every road which opens before them 
24
because they will not believe the guide boards;
and finally, sinking down into the grave under
the dark cloud of a settled scepticism.
In order to give full effect to your teachings,
and especially to inspire your pupils with that
implicit confidence which we have denominated faith-you must be ever on your guard
to be perfectly truthful in all your intercourse
with them. I do not mean by this caution to
imply that you would willingly deceive them
either by word or deed. That you may not
do this, you must never fail to carry out, at all
times, and under all circumstances, everything
which you have given them to understand that
you would do. If you tell John that you will
punish him if he whispers-and he then whispers, you must do as you said, at all hazards,
however sorry he may be for having offended,
or however painful it may be to your feelings.
If you do not, he will distrust you, and that delightful principle, an obedient faith, will have
received an injury.
We are not, in general, sufficiently impressed
with the influence which slight causes often
exert over the minds of the young. A successful trick, or a skillful manoeuvre-perhaps 
25
partially commended because evincing tact or
smartness, often changes forever its destinies.
At the sources of streams, little pebbles will
change their entire direction and determine into
what sea or ocean their waters shall finally flow.
Be careful, therefore, in dealing with the
moral nature of your pupils to give the first
development in the right direction. If the
body is wounded, the wound may be healed,
but a scar will remain, and the part never
again will be perfect as before. Think you
that if an injury be inflicted on that more
delicate part of our being, our moral nature,
that will heal and leave no trace behind 
None may be seen-the effects even may not
be decerned by a human eye. But will not
that eye which sees our mental and moral natures as plainly as our eyes can decern the
physical, clearly perceive all that weakens the
one or impairs the other? Therefore, ever
bear in mind that you are dealing with beings
fearfully and wonderfully made; and that the
lessons which you teach and the influences
you exert, may not only form their characters
here, but decide those more important destinies which lie beyond the grave.
D 
26
We find, in children, at a very early age,
the indications of those principles of good and
evil which constitute the warring elements of
our moral nature.  Passion-self-indulgence
-impatience of restraint-burst forth even
within the walls of the nursery; but affection
-docility-endurance, are also there.  That
struggle between good and evil, which is recorded in heaven, begins with the dawn of
life and terminates only with the last gasp of
decaying nature.
It has been a great problem with educators
to discover which of these principles is most
to be dealt with-whether the good is to be
mainly cultivated, and in its growth and development to overcome and crowd out the evil
- or, whether the evil principle is first to be
eradicated in order to prepare the soil for the
seeds of virtue. Experience and a close analysis of the mind and affections would seem to
indicate, that we are mainly to address ourselves to that which bears the good fruit, and
that the tares, which cannot be plucked up
without destroying the wheat also, musf be
left until the final harvest.
Let us, therefore, cultivate and strengthen 
27
the good. If the child is passionate, do not
increase the evil by severe punishment, administered under a like spirit, thereby adding
the element of hatred; but labor, rather, to
cultivate the spirit of gentleness and self-control. If he is self-indulgent, do not deprive
him of all amusement and gratification. If he
is perverse and obstinate, let the soft influences of gentleness tame and subdue his stubborn spirit. Thus, ever apply the antidotes
than aggravate the disease.
There is one class of pupils which will fall
under your care, (for they are found more or
less in every school,) for whom I would bespeak, especially, your indulgence and kindness. I refer to those who seem to be the
orphans rather than the favorites of Providence-those, who in mental and moral endowment are below the level of their companions. They will come to you from homes
where they may have been regarded as inferior members of the household. Discouragement and despair will be written on their
faces, and the inspirations of hope will have
ceased to warm their young bosoms, In such,
a deep sense of inferiority weighs down the 
28
buoyancy of youth, and they are ready to sink
into despondency or to envelop themselves in
the gloom of a sullen despair. To such, be
ever patient, kind and gentle. Let no jest, or
taunt, or scornful look, or disparaging comparison, bruise the broken reed and sink lower
the young spirit made prematurely old by a
painful sense of its own inferiority. Let your
kindness, rather, fll upon such spirits with
the same gentleness as do the dews of heaven
upon the opening flowers, and they may bring
forth the beauty of full fruition.
You, who have embraced the vocation of
teachers and assumed the responsible duties of
giving instruction to the young, occupy places
of more commanding importance than those
who sit in the halls of legislation or preside in
our courts of justice.  To you, is emphatically
committed the formation of the intellectual,
and to a certain extent, the moral character of
this people. You not only hold in ygur hands
the keys of knowledge, but you have the power
to give such a direction to the young minds,
committed to your care, as shall inspire them
with a love of virtue, or turn them into the
dark alleys of ignorance and vice. 
29
Your calling, however honorable as it is, is
beset on every side with embarrassment and
difficulty-and this, mainly, because the public
do not understand the importance and dignity
of your vocation.
The lawyer, who is to adjust the rights of
property, must be regularly educated at the
school, the academy and the college. This
even will not suffice, and he is further trained
in the office and the law school. The clergyman, also, must be thoroughly educated. He
must pass through all the schools-study profoundly, and receive much special preparation
before he is deemed qualified to discharge the
high trusts he is to assume. The physician,
who is to heal the bony, is not allowed to practice his profession till he has waded through
volumes of profound science-heard medical
lectures-attended medical schools and given
evidence of high attainments.
Those, even, who are to copy physical nature are more cared for than they who are to
develop the mental and moral. The sculptor
is not deemed competent to mould the human
form until he has made a pilgrimage to the
Vatican and studied there the sublime forms 
30
which were shaped by the genius of antiquity.
The painter feels that he cannot give full expression to the human face unless he visits the
galleries of Italy and catches inspiration from
the immortal canvass of Raphael. But how is
it with the teacher? Where are the institutions for his instruction and education? Until
recently, he has been picked up by the wayside. A lawyer without briefs - a clergyman
who cannot preach-a merchant who has failed,
or a mechanic without work, have been thought
to answer well enough for the school-room, and
the compensation has been adjusted according
to the same scale as for work done with the
hands. This can no longer be so. The ample
provisions made by your own State for the
education of teachers, shows that, though
young in years, she is yet old in wisdom.
The expectations, also, in regard to what
teachers can accomplish, are often very erroneous.  Many suppose that you can, at once,
in a single term, mould the stubborn will of an
ungoverned boy to cheerful obedience-and
this, by the gentle process of moral suasion.
It is confidently hoped by the anxious parent,
that the noisy and resisting child at home, will 
31
become the gentle and docile scholar of the
school. It is not even supposed that positive
resistence to parental authority is any indica tion of the want of a right spirit towards a
teacher. You will, therefore, in many cases,
not receive from the parent that support in the
maintenance of your authority which evenhanded justice demands. You will often see
the child upheld when he is wrong and your
authority set at nought, when the best interests of the child require that it should be supported. You will see a short-sighted parental
attachment prevailing over an enlarged view
of the real interests of the scholar. You will
see the seeds of insubordination scattered in
the young mind even by the parental hand
there to vegetate-to bring forth in youth disobedience and disorder, and in after life, contempt of all law, human and divine.
Amid all these causes of discouragement and
mortification, it is expected that the teacher
will be perfectly tranquil and always right.
In your case, no allownces will be made for
the infirmities of human nature. No excuses
will be offered up on the shrine of maternal
love for your mistakes or misdeeds. You will 
32
be held to a rigid accountability, and sometimes before the uncertain tribunal of public
opinion.
Among those who are without experience
in the vocations to which you have dedicated
yourselves, a most mistaken opinion prevails
both in regard to the difficulties and labor of
teaching. It is supposed, that to talk six hours
a day is no great affair, and that such sciences
ought not to be paid more highly than the
same amount of labor done with the hands.
You who have had the care of schools, know
full well, how great is the error of such opinions.  I need not to describe to you how soon
the constant care of a large school makes its
impression both on the mind and body. You
have all, doubtless, observed how soon the
school-room changes the ruddy complexion
and gives to the tranquil and happy face an
expression of anxiety and care.
It is an old adage, that constant dropping
wears a stone. It is equally true that a constant effort of the mitd and a continued excitement of the feelings will soon make their
impressions on the strongest intellect and the
most robust body. 
33
The constant exhaustion of the body and
mind which is produced by teaching is not restored by that relaxation and variety of pursuit which are found in the other professions.
The teacher takes his place in the school-room
by the road-side-and there day in and day
out, toils away his life in subduing the refractory, and in planting in the young mind the
seeds of knowledge.
The eyes of the world are, in a measure,
withdrawn from him. No anxious multitude
applauds him no senate chamber resounds
with his eloquence-no public press teams
with his praises, and no sympathy of friends
cheers him in his daily labors. Each day
brings with it the same round of duties, and
each evening the same fatigue and exhaustion.
His labors exhibit their ripened fruit but once
in a generation. The heedless boy must grow
to manhood and the laughing girl become a
matron before he can be certain that his labors have not been in vain.
If there are any here whose children are to
be educated-fathers —mothers-guardians
let me bespeak of you a feeling of indulgence
and sympathy for those to whom the difficult
E 
34
task of instructing them may be confided.
They need all your aid in training up your
children in the way in which they should go.
If you do not find them always patient, remember how often your own patience has been
taxed to the utmost, even though strengthened
by the warmest sympathies of our nature. If
you do not find them always tender, remember that parental tenderness sometimes gives
way under strong provocation. If you do not
find them faithful, consider how often you
yourselves have failed to do all that you might
have done for those whom Providence has
confided especially to your care.
But, teachers, although your calling may
not lead you along the traveled highways of
life-though no trump of fame may sound your
names abroad-though public applause may
not follow you-yet, if you are faithful, you will
carry along with you the highest reward and
the richest of all consolations-the consciousness of duty done. You will see those for
whom you have labored-those on whom you
have expended the best energies of your bojies
and minds, maturing in all that is noble and
good. You will see the seeds of intelligence 
35
and virtue, planted by your own hands, bring
forth their richest fruits. You will sympathise and rejoice in the success of others; and
when the evening of life shall come, and you
shall look back for the last time on the fading
scenes of the past, it will be a pleasing reflection that the day has not been passed in vain,
but that you have contributed your full share
to that intellectual and moral development
which is the glory and renown of a free people, and the only sure foundation of free institutions. 
-V
i